Harnessing the breeze - a free, eco-friendly and renewable source of energy.

While cruising around in the backwaters, we noticed that there was this strong breeze
round-the-clock. While wind energy is being seriously harvested in Tamilnadu, I do not
think Kerala has ever taken any serious steps in this direction. While Kerala faces a power
deficit, inspite of having hydel power projects, this would seem like a nice idea to pursue.

Anyway, while the policy makers ignore this idea, we came across some ingenious chaps in
the backwaters who put wind energy to use. No oil to burn in powering their canoes using onboard motors, no worries about polluting the environment and best of all, no payments
to be made for energy. Just sit back in your canoe and take care of only the steering part
with your paddle, while the wind takes you to your destination.

And with the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) setup that these guys have on their canoes, there is
almost nil initial investment also. Just a couple of bamboo poles used to make the frame
for the sail and empty cement bags made of plastic stitched together to make the actual
sail and they are ready to conquer the waters.

Check out for yourselves in the following pictures.




Ingenious indeed. And environment-friendly too.